Baron Joseph-Pierre VialetÃ¨s de Mortarieu, 1805-1806

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

This portrait was painted just before Ingresâ€™s departure for Rome in September 1806. The bust-length likeness of the baron is carefully described within a triangular silhouette that descends from the soft curls of the subjectâ€™s head to his blue-black coat. Within this outline, one sees Ingresâ€™s unswerving attention to detail and local color tempered subtly by his attempt to idealize the subject, who makes a vivid impression with his gaze. The sinuous rhythms defined by the multiple white collars and the cravat provide additional animation. As in other portraits of this early period, Ingres shows the impeccably attired baron standing before a vast sky punctuated with soft and airy clouds, a romantic conceit with precedents that date back to the Renaissance, but which serves here as a foil to the calm and secure expression of the subject.